


Fireworks at Midnight

by mousecookie



Series: A Matter of Tradition [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, New Year's Kiss, Schmoop, technically a sequel fic but can be read as a standalone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22127041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mousecookie/pseuds/mousecookie
Summary: Cisco Ramon has never had a New Year's Kiss.  It's time to fix that.
Relationships: Cisco Ramon/Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells
Series: A Matter of Tradition [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1592692
Comments: 12
Kudos: 68
Collections: Harrisco New Year's Kisses: An Anthology





	Fireworks at Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> After having so much fun writing mistletoe kisses in A Matter of Tradition, a sequel with a New Year's kiss was the natural follow-up. It's simple and sweet and I hope you enjoy it. Happy Harrisco New Year!

It was the morning of New Year’s Eve in Central City. It was a bright, clear day - a welcome reprieve from the snow that had been blanketing the city since Christmas.

Cisco stood on the tiny balcony of his apartment, wrapped tightly in his plush bathrobe and fuzzy slippers, a cup of coffee keeping his hands warm while he watched the snowy world glitter in the morning sun.

The sliding glass door opened behind him, sending a rush of warm air to curl around him. It was shortly followed by a pair of warm arms, belonging to one Harry Wells of Earth 2.

“Hey,” Cisco smiled as Harry pressed a kiss to his cheek. “How’d you sleep?”

“Great. Your bed is much more comfortable than the couch,” Harry admitted.

“Hmm, I’m glad you made the switch, then,” Cisco teased. He tilted his face up, requesting a proper kiss. Harry was only too happy to oblige him.

The change in their relationship on Christmas was a welcome one for both of them. They’d been dancing around each other for years, really, and apparently all it took to give them the final nudge was a bit of mistletoe. Okay, several bits of mistletoe. And a 30-pound block of tungsten. And industrial-strength adhesive. But those were just details.

They stood and looked at the morning world until Cisco’s coffee cup was no longer warm enough to stave off the chill of the slight breeze.

“Okay, I’m freezing. Back inside.”

They puttered about making breakfast, sharing space in the kitchen as easily as they did in their workshop at S.T.A.R. When Cisco asked for the salt shaker, Harry tossed it to him.

“Are you incapable of just handing people things?” Cisco groused fondly.

“No,” Harry replied, handing Cisco his empty coffee mug. “Refill, please.”

Cisco gasped in mock outrage, and Harry grinned and kissed him until his indignant expression melted back into a dopey smile.

“I’m only kidding,” Harry said, taking back his mug and snagging Cisco’s too to refill them both.

Cisco shook his head. “You’re sweet. How did I not know you were sweet?”

“Maybe you’re just unobservant,” Harry replied, placing Cisco’s coffee in front of him, doctored just how he liked with a splash of cream. “I’ve been bringing you beverages for years.”

Cisco couldn’t argue with that, he realized. It was true. He caught Harry’s hand and tangled their fingers together. “I wanna let the team know. About us.”

“Okay,” Harry said. “Any reason you’re deciding now?”

“Um. So. It’s New Year’s Eve, right?”

“That’s the date,” Harry agreed, brow creasing.

“Does Earth 2 have the thing where you kiss someone at midnight?”

Harry shook his head. “People do, I suppose, but it’s not an official tradition.”

“Well we do here,” Cisco replied, words starting to come out in a rush. “And well, it’s embarrassing, but I’ve never actually had a New Year’s kiss with anyone, and... this year, I really want it to be with you.” His eyes were full of hope. “But I also know how you feel about kissing because of tradition! So, yeah, whatever you want is fine. It’s just a stupid thing.”

“It’s not a stupid thing,” Harry corrected. “It matters to you.” His thumb swiped across the back of Cisco’s hand. “With the mistletoe, I didn’t want you to kiss me _only_ because of tradition. I wanted it to be real. Something we couldn’t excuse as a joke afterwards.”

Cisco grinned at him shyly. “Well, these feels are no joke.” 

Harry tugged gently until Cisco stood up, then pulled him into his lap. “Then I’ll kiss you whenever you want,” he said, wrapping his arms around him. “For whatever occasion.”

Cisco snuggled close. “You’ll be my New Year’s kiss?”

“No question. I can be your ‘right now’ kiss, too, even.”

Cisco laughed and bent to kiss Harry’s smiling mouth. “Good. Now we just have to hope our good luck from Christmas carries through, and there aren’t any meta disasters to distract us.”

“I’m sure it will be fine.”

* * *

They breached to S.T.A.R. Labs a little later, and the day wore on uneventfully. As evening approached, everyone was hopeful they were in for another quiet holiday.

“Barry and I are hosting tonight,” Iris was saying to the group. “It’s been way too long since we had everybody at our place, and our view of the city will be perfect for fireworks.”

“The roof of S.T.A.R. labs is pretty good too,” Cisco said, glancing at Harry.

Harry’s lips quirked in a small, private smile. “Too cold up there, Ramon.” 

Cisco struggled to control his own grin. “I dunno, I’d put up with it under the right circumstances.”

Harry’s gaze dropped to Cisco’s mouth, and it was obvious he was remembering the exact same thing Cisco was. Their first real kiss. And the second one. And the several after that. “I agree. But I think West-Allen here has the right idea.”

Iris looked between the two of them, bemused. “Glad you agree, Harry. It’ll be great to have you over.”

Harry stopped caressing Cisco’s face with his eyes and turned his chair to address Iris. “I’ll even remember which apartment number it is, this time,” he joked dryly. He knew she’d remember him stumbling through the building during their hunt for DeVoe, like he was in a fog. Knocking on the neighbor’s door. Tracking in mud. Neurons not quite connecting, or sending him down absurd paths of thought. But not anymore. Jesse and the doctors on Earth 2 had seen to that.

She smiled warmly. “I believe it. You’re sharper than ever.”

Harry’s reply was interrupted by the meta alarm going off.

 _“Dinosaur on Main Street!”_ Barry’s voice sounded over the comms shortly after, along with horrendous screeching noises. _“Repeat, DINOSAUR on Main Street. Gonna need a little help!”_

“A dinosaur?!” Cisco asked incredulously. He wheeled his chair to his keyboard and began typing furiously. “Like are we talking Flintstones Dino or full-on Jurassic Park?”

 _“Jurassic Park, definitely Jurassic Park!”_ Barry yelped, and the screeching roar grew louder.

Cisco brought up local security feeds to the monitors, and there was indeed a large dinosaur storming down Main Street. 

“Is that a T-Rex?!” Iris asked, eyes wide.

“That’s no T-Rex,” Cisco breathed. “That’s a _Giganotosaurus_. Very similar, but several crucial differences.” Behind him, Harry grinned fondly.

Barry gave a slightly strained laugh. _“Good to know, but can we figure out how it got here and what to do with it?!”_

Cisco snapped out of nerd-haze. “Yup! On it, Barry. We gotchu.”

There was a flurry of motion as Cisco, Harry, and Iris each claimed a workstation, Ralph headed for the door in his suit, and Caitlin brought up the monitor displaying vitals from sensors in Ralph’s and Barry’s super-suits.

It was not a battle quickly won.

 _“How is it a giant gorilla now?!”_ Ralph complained over the comms.

“Just be glad it’s not Grodd,” Cisco fired back, typing furiously.

 _“Grodd may have been telepathic, but at least he was smaller,”_ Ralph replied. _“LOOK OUT!”_ There was a loud crunching noise. _“...Never mind,”_ he wheezed a moment later.

 _“So it’s definitely some kind of shapeshifter, right? This isn’t a hologram.”_ Barry said. _“Holograms can’t throw cars.”_

“Unless it’s some kind of uber-sophisticated hard light projection,” Cisco replied.

“We have those on Earth 2,” Harry replied. His fingers flew over his keyboard, directing scans of the area. “I don’t think your earth has the capability.”

“Mm-mm, Harry, don’t throw judgy stones while your Earth 2 peeps are still rocking _vertical video_ like it’s a good thing,” Cisco fired back.

“And yet, my point is proven,” Harry said, swiveling in his chair and pointing up at one of the display monitors. “I adapted a hard light detection algorithm from my earth to work in your systems, and it’s a _negatory, Ghost Rider._ Whatever that is, it’s not hard light. Or a hallucination, since we can detect it from here. Survey says: shapeshifter.”

 _“Oh god, ohhh god,”_ Ralph’s panicked voice interrupted them. _“It’s a giant spider. It’s a GIANT SPIDER. Oh god.”_

“It’s not real,” Harry told him. “It could be a giant scorpion next, for all we know.”

"Or the Scorpion King," Cisco shuddered. "I still have nightmares about the CGI in _The Mummy Returns_."

"It was that bad on this earth too?" Harry asked.

"Terrifying," Cisco replied. "Total uncanny valley."

 _“Don’t give it ideas!”_ yelped Barry. _“Okay, Ralph, we gotta tie this thing up. If it’s a meta, we need to get a dampening cuff around… part of it.”_

 _“So many legs,”_ Ralph groaned.

“I might be able to make a dampening lasso, like, Wonder Woman status,” Cisco said, shooting up from his chair. “If I just--” he cut himself off, “No time to explain. Just trick it into being something smaller!”

He hurriedly opened a breach to his workshop and disappeared. 

“I can help,” Harry announced, but Cisco had already closed the breach. “Dammit, Ramon--” he swore, and sprinted out into the hallway.

“Ralph, try wrapping it up with your powers while Barry distracts it. It might get smaller to try and escape,” Iris directed.

 _“Aw, I don’t wanna touch the spider!”_ Ralph whined, though the video feed showed him positioning himself to do exactly that.

“Tough,” Iris said with a grin. “We need the Elongated Man to strut his stuff.”

Ralph audibly gulped. _“You got it, team leader!”_

It was nearly 11:30pm by the time Team Flash was finally able to call the battle won. The metahuman - for it had been a shapeshifting metahuman - lay unconscious in CCPD custody, his wrists securely enclosed by Cisco’s meta-lasso. Barry had spoken extensively with Joe, each in their official roles as The Flash and Chief of Police, about how the meta’s case would be treated. The man had escaped from a military lab, where he’d been subject to experimentation and horrible treatment. Upon escaping, his control of his powers had frayed and broken in a wild outburst, and he’d taken large and intimidating forms to protect himself from perceived threats. It was lucky that no one had been killed or seriously injured, as it meant they could consider a lighter sentence and make a case for rehabilitation. Regardless, the arguments with the military over their “asset” would no doubt take weeks.

Now, it was rapidly approaching midnight, and the exhausted heroes were gathered in the cortex. Everyone was in need of a good shower and a hot meal.

“I dunno, is New Year’s still even on? I feel pretty dead.” Ralph slumped over a chair, his limbs draping over it in a slightly melty way that should not have been possible.

Iris clapped her hands determinedly. “Yes. Yes it is. We all deserve some bubbly after that. Still at our place.”

“Here here,” Joe said tiredly. “I’ll go pick up Cecile. Jenna’s with a sitter.”

“I got a breach for everyone else,” Cisco raised his hand.

Harry squeezed his shoulder from where he stood beside him. “Atta boy.” 

One glowing portal and some time later, the whole group had relocated to Barry and Iris’s loft apartment. Ralph and Barry were still in their suits. There were a few bags of decorating supplies and party favors on the table, untouched.

The clock read 11:55pm. 

“We’re just in time!” Iris said, relieved. “Forget the decorations! We need bubbly.”

There was a gust of air and red tri-polymer, and Barry had laid out a few bottles and a whole set of glasses on the table.

“Now that’s my hero,” Iris laughed, popping a bottle open and starting to pour.

Out across the city, small fireworks started to go off. Another burst of Barry’s speed had full champagne glasses in everyone’s hand, and they gathered tiredly by the large windows and watch the show.

“Their clocks are fast,” the Barry announced, looking at his watch. “Let’s count it down. Ready? 10... 9… 8...”

“7… 6… 5..” chanted the group. Harry shifted closer to Cisco and slipped an arm around his waist.

“4… 3…” murmured Harry.

“2… 1…” whispered Cisco.

“Happy New Year!” crowed the rest of the group, raising their glasses and cheering. Joe kissed Cecile; Barry kissed Iris. Ralph extended his long arms to give Caitlin a hug that she returned with a laugh.

Cisco looked at Harry, hope filling his expression. After the long troubles of the day, would Harry remember their discussion that morning? Fireworks were exploding in riotous color and noise outside the window, like glowing chrysanthemums in the night. Cisco could see their lights reflected in Harry’s steady gaze. 

Harry clinked their glasses together and took a sip of bubbly. Cisco didn’t drink, his attention much too focused on what he hoped would happen next.

He wasn’t disappointed. 

The touch of Harry’s fingers to his jaw had Cisco’s eyes fluttering shut, and then he was sighing into a toe-curling, champagne-flavored kiss. It was much better to taste champagne this way, Cisco thought, blindly shoving his untouched glass onto an end table and winding his arms around Harry’s neck.

“What?!” Barry’s voice sounded nearby, quickly followed by whoops and giggles from the others.

“Happy New Year,” Harry murmured against Cisco’s lips as they parted. 

Cisco beamed up at him, grinning fit to burst. “Hell yes it is.”

“It’s about time,” Joe said, raising his glass to the two of them. “The tension at Christmas was damn near unbearable.”

Cisco blushed, and Harry smirked.

“I thought the mistletoe game was gonna work for sure,” Cecile added. “But better late than never.”

Cisco's face grew hotter. Imagining the group knowing about him and Harry was different than having everyone’s keen eyes on him now. And that was without the revelation that they’d suspected all along. “Um. It kinda did work.”

“ _Not_ because he caught me in a trap,” Harry added quickly. “I successfully evaded all traps. Won the game.”

“Yeah, okay, Mr. Cheater,” Cisco told him, snorting. Harry gently tweaked one of his curls in retaliation. Cisco swatted his hand away, and a small battle of tickling and poking ensued. Harry squawked as Cisco’s fingers skated over his ribs. They ended at a stalemate with Harry trapping one of Cisco’s tickling hands in his armpit, and Cisco threatening to bite the hand that Harry had hovering near his hair. 

Caitlin and Cecile giggled at the sight of them.

“I _thought_ you were weirdly happy all week,” Barry frowned at Cisco, pouting at apparently having been out of the loop. “But this! When did this-- did you--”

 _“Ages,”_ Ralph rolled his eyes. “I actually thought they were together a long time ago. Then again, that was just my godlike detective skills uncovering events before their time..”

Iris snorted and hip-bumped him off his perch on a bar stool.

“Well, congratulations, you guys,” Barry said, earnest but still a bit nonplussed. “You both deserve to be happy.”

“Thanks, Allen,” Harry said, eyes still on Cisco.

“Well,” Joe said. “I don’t know about you all, but I need to put my feet up for a bit.” He plopped down in an armchair with a tired grunt.

The others shuffled to follow suit. Harry claimed his favored seat at the end of the couch, and Cisco sat on the adjacent arm, like usual, with his hand braced behind Harry’s head. It was their usual way of being close without overtly touching - something they’d been doing long before they admitted feelings for each other. It was simply a habit.

It was Harry who realized his opportunity to change that habit. As everyone settled down with their glasses, Harry reached up and pulled Cisco off the arm of the sofa and onto his lap.

“What-! Oh,” Cisco said, surprise turning into a bashful grin as Harry cuddled him. “Hi.”

“Everyone knows,” Harry informed him. “So we get to do this now.”

“You know what, that sounds like a great idea,” Cisco replied. He leaned in to kiss Harry again, just because he could. There were whoops and laughter from the others again, all of them pleased to celebrate something happy at the end of such a harrowing day.

Belated fireworks continued to pop and fizzle off in the distance. 

As New Years went, Cisco thought, this was already shaping up to be a good one.


End file.
